The Kings' Soldier
by Master of the Machines
Summary: 'The hiss and bubble of his burning flesh was unheard, covered by the sounds of his screams and the trembling earth.' He woke up choking back gasps and sobs. Tears mingled with sweat dampened his fur. Gumball has been plagued by these nightmares for years now, waking up with scars. He know not what this means or how to get any help. Rated T for uncertainty.
1. Introduction

_**This my frst tawog fanfic so I might have the characters little if-y.**_

**_The Only Thing I Own Is A Lighter. :)_**

The feline quietly wove through the trees. The only sound was the sound of rustling leaves and her heavy pants. Her figure was concealed with the dark cape following after her, as though an omen. She silently danced on the high branches careful to disturb anything in fear of being caught by those who followed suit. Rain stung her face as if it were shards of glass. Each strike was a painful slash due to the numbness of her flesh, the coldness sent shivers down her spine. The fur clung tightly to her body, it still lingered with the smell of sulphur and her clothes covered in ashes. The amber glow had long faded and yet she could still hear the angered shouts of soldiers. She unknowingly clutched the item closer to her chest, scared that it might slip and plummet in the foliage below. The only object of this was to gain as much distance as the soldiers as possible, to get away. The racing of her heart was slowing down, she no longer felt it pound furiously threatening to leap from her throat, along with the shallow breaths that seemed to make her ribs quiver at each intake of air. She had long since descended from the high branches of the forest, the task was greatly tedious for her dress would get caught. Knowing it would take them hours to find her and the child, she began to slow down. As she continued to run, her legs felt like they would give from beneath her, and the horrible taste of vile in her stomach would rise. Her throat was dry down to her lungs and she was shaking greatly.

**Her dress was torn and frayed at the ankle and wrists the cloth long taken of to wrap the smaller. She slid down to her knees, the only sound in the room was her heavy gasps and slight click of metal from the one before her. Placing the bundle carefully in the basket she proceeded to take the damp cloth of the fragile figure within. They were greeted by the site of a pale sky blue. The females cat flickered up at the sight. The small male within un curled from its slumber. Large smokey grey pools stared into space, glee written on them as small paws grasped at thin air. "He developed early?" a husky voice whispered. She nearly suffered from whiplash as she spun to face the figure. She could make out the glint of armour and bubblegum pink. "You nearly scared me." the voice let out a chuckle. She felt him rest his chin on her shoulder blade. "What are we going to call him Nicole?" "How about..." the loud knocking at the door brought her to a halt. She instantly drew her breath in, her muscles froze. The knocking came again louder this time, so that it threatened to knock the flimsy door down. For that moment there was nothin but silence within the cottage. Quickly Nicole gathered the boy out of the basket and into her arms. Ripping of the one that wound her head she added it to the others around the blue feline. "In the name of his Highness open this door." a man yelled from outside. She felt a cloak being thrown over her. "Run.". The swish of metal was heard in the ringing air. The cries to open the door were now furious. "Now Nicola!". That moment the door fell over. Two men stepped into the dark, snarled expressions evident. She closed her eyes before bolting out the door as quick as possible without a single glance back.**

She was now at the edge of the twisted wood. Behind her all had grown silent, only the song of the cold night. "Porta." she sighed taking one last look at the forest, hoping the bunny would emerge soon. The air began to lightly pick up forming a small dirt vortex. The small creature in her clutches squirmed before letting out a cry. The tornado began to pick up gathering more wind and dirt. This startled the kitten more and soon his ear piercing shriek was only matched by the winds howl. Nicole was awe struck before realising the portals' source. Quickly she covered the male tighter in the blankets hopping to hush him. It finally subsided, so did the baby's jerky movements. She took one more glance behind her before facing the gateway. Breathing out she stepped inside.


	2. In The Middle Of The Night

_**Sorry its late kinda had writters block on this chapter.**_

The thirteen year-old woke up startled. He let out shaky breaths, trying to gulp in as much air as possible. Gasps were the only thing heard in the dead night, this is when it hit him to be silent. For he did not know what they would do if they saw him in such a state. A splitting pain ran across his abdomen, he placed his paws on his stomach feeling the sticking mess that seeped through the yellow garment. This is when they instantly started to roam his body for the all to familiar scars that would suddenly appear after such a nightmare. After sevral minutes he let out a small hiss when he accidentally ran his claws on a burn mark. Grabbing the small device from the desk he quickly flipped it open. A dull fluorescent glow illuminated his leg and face. Carefully peeling back the blue fur on his thigh he could make out the pulsating sickly pink mark in the poor light. He made quick work of it, licking his thumb and pressing it against the blemish. Letting out a groan he moved to the next task of throwing of the blood stained shirt and stuffing it beneath his pillow. The dark liquid was slowly soaking into his fur in a wide growing stain, horribly clashing with the sky blue. He gagged at the sight of his own blood before turned to face the large bowl before him, scanning the orange amphibians' features for a while he was satisfied to see the younger was still asleep in the large bowl. Stumbling of the bed, he cursed as it let out a groan. The sudden feeling of fatigue hit him hard as he desperately tried to grab onto something. The only thing he felt was a sudden paralysing shock as he fell to the floor. A white noise filled his ears as he desperately tried to get up, he quickly fell to his knees, shaky arms barely holding him up. The ground beneath him felt as if it was shaking violently. The room was unbearable hot, the air swept into his boxers sending shivers up his spine. The stale taste of metal filled his mouth, swimming in his spit, a sudden pressure pushed on his chest knocking the wind out of him. He began coughing, dark red and saliva splashed on the carpet. As he continued bright pricks of light began to dance in his field of vision. The world around him seemed to dissipate and body grow numb. The only thing he felt was the burning in his chest. There seemed to be slight cries through the noise ringing in his ears, "Gum..." "Mrs Watt..." "M..." "...Ard!" he barely made anything out before everything came to a slow standstill and he drifted into black.

Nicole could only be described as terrified, she was earlier awoken by her children's screams of help. The first thought that ran through her head -guilty, that she is- was Gumball. She made it down the hall her tail swishing furiously, she could feel her claws scrape on the walls as she made it to the room. The temperature was an unnatural humid, she could feel the sweat dripping off of her body. The overpowering smell of blood reached her senses almost making her trip over the ageing carpet. The entire house was already lit blinding her more so, this made a growl erupt from the back of her throat. "Nicole what is it?" the voice behind her questioned. She barley could hear it over her own paranoid thoughts, but to the male they were more of quick spoken growls and slurs. Nicole instantly froze when she arrived in the room, the scene before was one any would fear greatly. The boy lay in a pool of quickly expanding red. The temperature seemed to rise even quicker, "Gumball?" Nicole choked out as she inched closer. She wanted to run up to him and hug him close, make sure he was okay and that the next day he would be his normal misguided self. But alas her was body moving to its own accord. Gently scooping the boy in her arms she clutched his limp body close, this action was robotic. She had no expression an her face, all of this to her felt to much like a dream to be honest. Burying her face into his chest, she could make out his slow heartbeat, she tightly clutched his fur at the sign of life. Nicole could feel the tears down her cheeks. Burying deeper into the fur, tears began to mingle in with blood burning Nicole's eyes. Her body shook and the slightest touch from anyone sent a hiss in their direction. This is when Anais chose to speak "I'll call an ambulance."

Everyone in the room was preoccupied with their own thoughts, the only voice was of the eight year-olds' as she spoke into the telephone. Anais took another look into the living room. Her brother lay on the couch wounds dressed, her mother was kneeling on the carpet watching him. Her father's arms were draped around her but she still seemed to be shivering immensely. Guilt, pain and fear swam in her thoughts. what if they never arrived, even with his wound dressed it was to deep, his brother was rapidly loosing blood. Earlier she had lied through her teeth, saying that he would be fine. But the cut was much more severe she dared not voice this in case it made them worry more. Plus with the amateur work of bandaging his wounds it was only a matter of time before Gumball died, he had seemed to go into a sort of shut down. His organs were slowly dying, she could not explain this phenomenon, all she knew if the ambulance did not arrive in the space of an hour, it would be curtains for the blue feline. "To have wisdom beyond your years..." she sighed. "Do you think he's gonna be okay.". Spinning around Anais saw the owner of the question. She dared not look him in the eye when answering "Of course Darwin, why wouldn't he." 'liar, you know he wont' "I guess, I mean your never wrong." the look on his face, shattered her heart. Complete trust, complete trust and faith in her words, why must the damn pacifist be so painfully gullible. The worst part is he did it in such a way that you could not help but feel remorse. He was the bloody image of perfection and innocence, the bloody son of a bitch. "Hey are you okay?". This sent a cold glare toward Darwin, making him flinch slightly. "Okay..."

Before anything could be said a slight knocking at the door came interrupting everyone's thoughts. Seeing no one would move Darwin and Anais made it to the door. The tension in the room was heavy, the Watterson's all stared at the door anxious to know who it was. You could feel the relief flood the room along with the fresh cool air as the two bandages walked in with a stretcher. Nicole exchanged words with the paramedics while Richard got the remaining in the car. What could be said about the drive to the hospital was awkward. It didn't change when they arrived either. All were preoccupied with their own thoughts. Richard sat on the plastic chairs, head in hands. He knew all to well that this was no ordinary trip, over the years his son had visited the hospital. So many he wouldn't be surprised if they knew him by name, but tonight was different. This didn't sit well with him, even to Gumball's standards this was wierd. The high pitched groan yanked him from his thoughts, turning he saw his wife. The bags under her eyes were visible in her hand she clutched a polystyrene cup. "The coffee here tastes horrible." Nicole murmured. He knew it was meant to be a slight distraction. "I don't know, its kinda good." he half-heartedly replied. There was no reply just a small scoff. "Are you worried about Gumball?" he continued finding it slightly amusing. The boy had seen much worse and lived right? His response was a confused glare, "He is your son after all right, what damage can one night do?" "Last time I checked it was a team effort," Nicole chuckled. "really, I was doing all the work now that I think about it." "Hey!"

Class was a drag for Darwin. Everything seemed dull and numb without his brother. Currently his gaze was fixated on the clock, he's view would occasionally drop to his friends unoccupied seat. The feeling was rather odd to him, they never been apart, spare classes and such. But not waking up to see the cat beside him. "Dude?". Looking to his side he begun to notice most of the class exit, this made him draw his attention back to the voice. A white rabbit stood before him, he was obviously knew for he had never noticed him around. What struck him as odd was the vague resemblance he bore to Anais, only much less rounded. "You gonna stare at me all day or what." his tone of voice was rather akward, he sounded as though it was high pitched and low all at one but with little screeching. This struck him as familiar, "Sorry. Do I know you from somewhere?". "I don't think so, the name's Cole." "European estate." Darwin said more to himself rather than the rabbit. This earned him an odd look from Cole as the sat on the bench. He was positive his response would go unheard due to the clatter of trays and blur of voices. "The show on Sixty Vice channel.". This earned a chuckle "Had no idea anyone watched that." "Its kinda this thing in our class. I guess some people just watch because of the Game Cube presenter, she is kinda pretty.".

"Pretty? What do you know about girls really?" Cole said his paws waving an hourglass shape in mid air. "Well Mrs Mom always says to treat a lady with dignity and respect and she'll be the most beautiful thing ever.". Darwin answered. One couldn't help but chuckle at his naive tone. "Right..." he drawled sarcastically "Hey you know were Ms Simians class is?". "Couple doors and turns down from here, do you want me to show you around. I going there right now?", Cole could see how desperate the fish was. His father did tell him to never grow accustomed to anyone, but he couldn't turn down the little 'amphibian?' "Sure?" "Darwin." the boy stuck out his fin before Cole staring at it for a second, he knew he was practically signing a deal with the devil, but being him... He shook none the less.


	3. Filler

Darkness...

That was all there was, nothing but a pitch black, he could make out the floor beneath him and cool surface on which his back lay. He seemed to be standing, and to his discomfort a rather akward position. His body was an odd numb, the one he usually felt when he slept to long. Though this one felt unnatural, he could tell there was a source of light beyond the dark veil. But all was still dark, he was painfully aware of the light that lay over the horizon. To be honest Gumball was never a fan of darkness, he was barely above mediocre about it. It was not that he feared it, it was that he shrouded all. It turned those who can see blind, its cold grasp was hard to escape for when it had you in its clutches it proceeded to suck any sign of life or light, like a leech, into the spiralling black abyss. Spiralling, spiral? Why did that seem familiar to him? He had seen one, engraved on... It was a simple coil. A thick line that ran down, tightly wound around her wrist. Gumball flinched, the mark somehow seemed to terrify him greatly. The sound of scrapping barley entered his senses when he did so. Puzzled he used all his effort to run his arm up the cool surface. The sound repeated itself, this time softer. With great effort he managed to pry his eyelids open. His vision was fuzzy and dark, he could make out a blurred image of his arm sitting on the floor beneath him. Managing to clear his vision he could see the almost silver claws protruding from his paw. This was rather odd for Gumball for his claws were a dark grey and not nearly as sharpened he thought noting the jagged lines that ran down the metal sheet. He moved his paw in front of his face, waving it back and forth in a wave like manner to make sure it belonged to him. The claws quickly retracted surprising him. He pushed himself of the cold steel wall, straightening his back. "Hello?" his voice bounces of the walls of the hall echoing back to him. "Okay." he shrugged continue to take his surroundings. Finding nothing of interest in the blank hall Gumball proceeded to head down it.

He was walking through the maze for what felt like hours. The halls seemed to have no end, he had not seen any sign of life except the occasional shadow that flickered his way. He had tried to figure the source of this but merely failed. Gumball was now beginning to grow scared, but the mantra he recited had continued to assure him that there was nothing fear. There was an cold chill that ran through the air, leaving in its trail whispers. At first Gumball thought it. was his slow decent into madness. For the past hour they have been beckoning him, they varied from soft -almost unheard- murmurs, to still unclear shouts as random intervals. He was now shivering, his breathe coming out in thick wisps around him. Shoving his hands in his jeans, he was thankful his sweater could even keep him worm in this tempreture. "Boy.". "What?" Gumball's eyes were now nervously jutting around, as though a vipers tounge. Dull metallic irises scanned the area. He instantly found himself checking for any unfamiliar smells, there were none. How he knew this he didn't question. His ears flickered at a crack, the sound of a growl soon drifted into the air. Another followed and it seemed the soft purring became louder. His gaze quickly caught the orange glow cast of the stone wall, looking back he soon realised all around him was the all to familiar brown slabs. Fear was like a rope quickly winding itself around his heart and pulling. He tried to swallow the rock on his throat but it felt stuck, quickly he wiped away the warm tears that ran down his cheeks, the action of crying had made him feel greatly out of place. He knew this was the exact same place where most of his nightmares began, the burning of flesh, tearing of his limbs, all of them had ended with him dying a slow and painful death. The all to dark voice at the back of his mind began to speak, the dark and sinister words that found enjoyment in his pain. Its soundless cries plagued his mind. "Stop please!" his paws clamped his ears "Let me go!". It was like a piercing cry, how he wanted it all to end. "Please I'm begging you!". His whole body was on fire, all his senses where numb. He thought the flames were already around him. He's ear piercing screams shut out all the world around, all he could think about was the taunts the voice threw his way. Then everything was quiet. It wasn't a forced one, rather a calm silence. He could feel cool paws on his cheeks and fingers brush away his tears. Cracking his eyes open, he was met with the blurred image of a woman. His arms limply fell to his side, he desperately tried to sniff his tears back, an aura of calmness radiated of the larger cat before him. Choking back his cries he stuttered "M- mom?". The sky blue female before bore an exact resemblance to his mother, down to the caring smile on her face. Though the one before her different; she had dark circles around her eyes, her attire strangely resembled tribal type clothing. Never the less the woman wrapped her arms around him, he returned the action "They'll never touch you when I'm around.", Even the words were the same soothing tone. After she let go Gumball felt a sense of emptiness, Nicole looked at her son once more, cupping his cheecks in her hands. "But the..." "Sh, I shall tell you what they mean when you awake," closing his eyes he could feel his mothers thumbs on his eyelid before she whispered "dabo conspéctu tuo."

Instantly bolting upright, the feline was met with the foreign and familiar place. From all his misfortunes, Gumball knew all to well, by the slow beep of the monitor and overpowering smell of cleaning products, he was currently in hospital. Sitting up dilated pupils scanned the room for any signs of life. He desperately wanted to know what his mother meant in his dream. Realisation, though he was sometimes oblivious, dawned on him. It was all a dream, his mother wouldn't be waiting to explain the terrors that tortured him nor ward them of. For some reason he felt the weight of defeat crash down on him, what was he really expecting that his mother would magically be able to solve the problem, one she did not know of?

Oh how the child was wrong.


End file.
